Crete Carrier Corporation - Lincoln, Ne.

Good luck going with Crete. They have a terminal near Dallas (it's off of I-45 pretty close to Wilmer), so you'd be ready to go if you don't live too far from there. You probably already know this, though.

Crete is a company that is far superior to most TL oufits. I hope you get the job with them. Just keep your nose clean with those guys, for they don't kid around when it comes to DACcidents and such. If you have fender-benders in rigs, you won't keep a job there long.

 

over 12 years and I have never so much as scratched a truck, well once but the co paid the guy off with cash and it's not on my record.

But regardless the offer on my house just fell through so I'l be staying where I am at untill something else comes along on my house. Crete pays good, I found there rates but I still make more where I am now.

 

I have experience with flat out bad carriers and one good one. I am almost through the application process with Crete. So far I have been treated with absolute respect.

Conflict and trucking are a marriage that no man will separate. Between the DOT, shippers, receivers and the driver manager there is always conflict to be absorbed by the driver.

Some companies live by the "just drive' em" policy, no matter the condition of truck, trailer or driver. They pay for it. And so do the drivers. Other companies, like Crete, for example, have a general reputation for operating with in the safe and legal requirements of DOT (short of a bad audit) while still offering drivers the pay and miles they desire.

I honestly have never met an over the road driver who had a poor opinion of Crete. I have read the thread on their "Bad Company" thread. For the most part it seemed like a "Good Company" thread.

But lets all be honest about our driving jobs. They pay us the big money to sacrifice our lives, our family, ect. The more home time, the closer to home you drive, equals less money. Why? Supply demand. Someone has to take things all over the country and there are less drivers willing to do it than those who desire to be around the house.

I am looking at some debt. I can stay around the house and work it off over about 3 or 4 years. Or, I can head out with my wife and family's full support and prayers and pay it off in a year. Mind you, that in those 3 to 4 years I will be pulling 12 hour days with weekends off. I wouldn't be around much anyhow. So, we are making a short term sacrifice against a longer term gain.

Sacrificing along with you all,

The Varmit

 

I wouldn't call a driver's income BIG unless he was nailing down 60K a year for about 60 TRUE hours of work a week. When a driver considers all the freebies he gives his company, he may even make as low as minimum wage. And don't forget the map miles scheme. At some jobs I used to give up 10% of my income. While at Swift, I ran Richmond-Baltimore-Richmond loops that saw me take a 30% hit on miles.

Factor in the "intangible" of being away from home weeks on end (which we get no compensation for), and trucking looks pretty lousy as a career choice.

 

You are not kidding. looking at what these companies pay it would be better to stay home and work locally.

I fit into the true trucker factor. I dont have a house, a car, etc....

only part is the wife and girlfriend back home miss me

 

You don't have any idea how wrong this statement is. I drove local for 4 years straight after my son was born. Just went back on the road this Jan. I drove local on and of before then too.

First off a decent paying local job will pay you a whoping $12 per hour. and about 40 to 55 hrs a weeks. My local job is extreamly good paying as I'm in a nich medical imaging field. I made over $60k last year runing local. BUT I worked from noon or 1m untill midnight or 3am. My wife works a first shift job. I also worked 6 day weeks (norm for local drivers) So you do the math and figure out how much I saw my family. I saw my son in the mornings and then took him to daycare but I litteraly would not se my wife (awake) untill sunday.
I have been on the road since JAn, now granted I don't go out for weks on end like alot of guys but I do go out for 5 days, or I go out for 4 days and then spend a day r two running locally. RIght now my pay stubs put me at what should work out to 75K this year but I have slowed down the last month so as to not get burnt out so I'l probably end up at $70k this year and I see my family ALOT more than I did running strictly locally. And that isn't including my perdiem pay which runs $25 for ever night I am not at home.
Now lok at your typical driver. No offense guys but we tend to not be the most educated and socially acceptable folks on the planet. Yes there is always exceptions and I tend to see the higher end of folks around here. But how many choices do many of us have? It's the best life we can prove for our loved ones without a college (of highschool) education.
And really who is going to count hours when you are on the road. I hear this all the time and it really bugs me. If I am away from home I want to be kept rnning as hard as posible so mabey I can get that extra day at home. Why would I want time "off" sitting in a truck by myself. As it is many may think I don't work much or the 'typical' driving job but I drive as many miles in those 4 day weeks as many drive in a 6 day week.
Oh and I don't see why the crete drivers shouldn't make more than 60k. At my exp level there pay is one cent more than I am making now. (one of the reasons I'm leaving is I havn't had a raise in over 3 yr) granted I have perdiem pay and I get alot in rop and hook pay.

 

Trucking also has a risk factor that many of us have talked about here. The "one can have a great job today and be in the bread line tomorrow" risk. Yeap, a driver who's driven a million miles without even a speck of dust hitting his bumper will be thrown to the wolves like anyone else would be if he hits somebody with his rig. This is quite a risk. Drivers should be compensated for this risk by society, but the system ensures those who are taking the risk are politically helpless and can't do anything about being kicked out of a job for a fender-bender.

So....a driver risks his career, if not his life, every day he drives. And every day he drives, he's away from his family. He gets no compensation for this, even though a CEO at a corp will get all sorts of compensation at the end of the year. Some argue this is because of the risks the CEO takes. Yeah, whatever. The driver also must give up to 1/3 of his time to the company, not to mention actually drives for free anywhere from 2 to 10% of the time. Some Swift drivers give 30% on some runs.

You guys really do need to revolt. A revolution in trucking, and in society in general, is about 20 years overdue.

 

I wasn't speaking for myself either but come on. Look around in a truck stop once. If you deny the lack of social acceptability of many in this industry then you have been driving local for too long. Take a trip down to your local flying j and turn on a CB for a few minutes.
I also managed to finish school and technical school. Although my spelling would suggest otherwise I know.

I actually chose this job too. And I like it. I had a fairly decent job as a diesel mechanic when I decided I would rather drive them than work on them. I made less for a long time but I believe I do better now than I would have if I had stayed on wrenching.
If I didn't like what I do I wouldn't do it. But I do put myself in the catagory of being somewhat of a loner. Rude crude and socially unaceptable as they say!

 

Hey there. Just finished a very professional conversation with my application processor at CRETE. I am impressed on their front end so far. I also am impressed with their family ride along policy.

Family Rider Policy
Crete Carrier Corporation has one of the more progressive rider policies in the trucking industry, allowing specific family members to ride along at no cost to the driver. Authorized passengers under the family rider policy are:

One child, stepchild, foster-child or grandchild 4 years of age or younger, provided they are accompanied by the non-driving spouse

That's me. My wife and son (age 2) are able to come out with me from time to time.

I understand that some guys might not want the wife around on the road. But in our case, its a blessing, not a curse.

I let you know how Orientation goes.

The Varmit